leffeets



from the garment, or which may be taken out UNITED 4 STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARSHALL G. LEFFERTS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MANUFACTURE OF STAYS FROM CELLULOlD AND OTHER PLASTIC MATERIAL.

{SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 238,927, dated March 15 1881.

Application filed December '1, 1880 (No specimens.)

To all whom t't may concern:

Be it known that I, MARSHALL O. LEFFER'rs, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Stays from Celluloid and other Plastic Material, of which the following is a specification.

The invention has relation to improvements in corset-stays and analogous articles which form a part of or are used in connection with articles of wearing-apparel. It is intended to be practiced in the production of stays and similar devices of all kinds, without regard to the purpose for which they are employed. It will be utilized in the manufacture of the front and side pieces or stays of corsets, in the bodies of dresses, in hoop-skirts, bustles, expanders, and otherwise, as may be desired.

In the manufacture of the class of stays, &c.,to which the invention has relation, it has heretofore been customary to employ whalebone, horn, metal, 850., which have been covered with kid or other material, or used without being covered, according to circumstances; but there are objections to the best of these, which I am able to successfully avoid, besides producing an article which possesses advantages that have not, as far as 1 am aware, been embodied in any heretofore made.

An objection common to all of the materials now in use is, that whenever it is desired to wash the garment or article of apparel it is necessary to remove the stay to prevent its being injured by being wet or remaining immersed in water. This is especially true of such as are made of metal, and those made of Whalebone, born, &c., after a time, become what is termed set, and also lose their elasticity. The class which are covered with kid or other material are obnoxious to the objection that they are affected by the perspiration and heat of the body, and soon become offeir sive, which renders them valueless.

By means of my invention I overcome all of these objections, and provide an article which is light, of ornate appearance, durable, and at the same time permanently elastic, which may be, washed without removing it and washed without injury, and which is unlike any stay heretofore used.

The essential novelty of the invention consists in the employment of celluloid or other compounds of pyroxyline, the application being governed by the circumstances of the case. In some instances I propose to use the celluloid or other compound as a covering orl coating, and in others to use it to form the (aw i tire article. When used as a coating or covering I employ, by preference, a core or body consisting of a strip or piece of elastic steel, the covering or coating being secured in any convenient way, and being of a character adapted to the particular use to which the article is to be applied. After the coating or covering has been put on, the article will, by preference, be polished or finished as may be desirable.

lf preferred, the covering or coating may be in the form of a varnish or solution laid on with a brush, or otherwise; or the strip or piece may be dipped.

In lieu of steel, any other suitable metal or material may be employed, the method of applying the coating being adapted to the nature of the material.

In some instances I intend to omit the core or center of metal or other material, and use a strip or piece consisting wholly of celluloid or other compound of pyroxyline, which will be formed and finished in any appropriate manner.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A stay for corsets and other articles,com- 8 5 posed wholly or in part of celluloid or other compound of pyroxyline.

2. A stay for corsets and other articles, which consists of a core or center covered or coated with celluloid or other compound of pyo roxyline.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing improvement in the manufacture from plastic material of stays, 8m, as above described, I have hereunto set my hand this 2d day of De- 5 cember, 1880.

MARSHALL O. LEFFERTS.

Witnesses CHAS. O. GILL, PARIS CHALMERS. 

